Murphy's Boy by null

Murphy's Boy Reviews

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  goodreads Customer

  I love all of Torey Hayden's books about her students. I lost track of all of her books that I bought, one at a time, when the first editions came out and collected them all over again to reread.
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  Beverly

  Really good book, she knows how to help troubled children
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  Myrna

  I am in the process of reading all of Torey Hayden's books. Murphy's Boy, as all her books I have read so far, is so interesting and well written that it is hard to put down. I am looking forward to the next one!
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  Brigitte Moreau

  Once again, I couldn't t put the book down. Coukdn t wait to get home to read it.
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  BeatleBangs1964

  When readers are first introduced to Kevin, then 15, he is a ward of the state in a psychiatric facility. He has barricaded himself under a table and his voice had been unheard since his admission to the place when he was seven.
  In time, Kevin is drawn out from under the table and begins using materials provided during therapy sessions to free himself from his internal torment. Kevin, described as a skilled artist, used drawing to present events that took place early in his life. In time, Kevin begins to speak and he discloses an early life replete with brutality and horror; he and his sisters were sexually abused and beaten by their stepfather and one younger sister was beaten to death. Kevin and this sister were especially close and it is through dogged determination that the childs school, death and social services records are unearthed. The girl had been "buried" twice: the first time when she was killed and the second time when the social services bureaucratic agencies involved in Kevins case felt that disclosure of the childs murder would preclude him from being viewed objectively. This reasoning seems bizarre and is never explained.
  Kevins natural expression was often poignant; in one passage, he talks of "mirror ghosts;" people who have, in his words died of "heart rot" because they have never been loved. The song "Where is Love" from "Oliver!" would be the song to underscore a good portion of this book.
  Kevins progress accelerates; he learns to swim over the summer after some setbacks; he works with another child who is part of the Big Sister/Big Brother program and the pair appear to work well together; by fall of that year, Kevin was given a clean bill of health and promoted to a group home. Sadly, this is a short lived success after Kevin breaks a workers arm after the latter tells him he can never be normal. The boy then serves the better part of 10 months in a hospital. Once released, he is assigned to a boys ranch, which did not sound like the place to meet his needs.
  Over time, after contending with inappropriate placements and setbacks, Kevin is welcomed into a group home where he can serve as a mentor to his dorm mates. He insists on being enrolled in a public high school, which his new guardians endorse and from there, his progress is truly heartwarming. Like the mythical phoenix bird, Kevin literally arose from the ashes of his past and strove to create a better life for himself.
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  Kimimela

  Well, I love Torey's work, I really do. But, Part I of Murphy's Boy was boring and somewhat hard to follow. In one paragraph, she'd be somewhere with someone and the next would be a totally different time and scene. It jumped around like a soap opera, but nowhere near as bad.
  Part II was much better, but too expedited. It was almost like saying in one chapter someone found out they were pregnant and in the next the baby had been born nothing said of the pregnancy in between. Part III ended too soon and I really didn't like the ending.
  It left questions than it answered in some ways. For instance, what became of Kevin's real father? He only
  mentions him once in the book. And were the girls his full or half sisters?
  Personally, I wanted to knock his mother to the moon !!! How could anyone, especially a mother, let someone MURDER her child and stand by and do NOTHING? And, then, take the evil, brutal, twit back and allow him to abuse the others AND in the end give up her children to the state so she didn't have to give up that horrible man??????
  I love Torey's non fiction work. This was not my favorite, but it really shows Torey's spirit. She never gave up long after even the most long suffering of us would have.
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  Sara

  Torey Hayden's books are always fascinating glimpses into the minds of disturbed children. Murphy's Boy is an especially gripping account of Hayden's actual work with a bizarre, mute, 15 year old boy. In the beginning of the book, Kevin hardly seems human. He cowers under tables, sweating and shaking, never making a sound. Torey is unsure whether Kevin is capable of speech, but she begins working with him towards that end. A startling transformation occurs in Kevin after he finds his voice. Suddenly he is not only human, but intelligent, cunning and dangerous. Filled with hatred towards his abusive step father, Kevin teters on the edge of insanity. The reader fears for the author as she delves deeper and deeper into the boy's horrifying past, uncovering a devastating history of abuse and torture.
  This book is fairly dark overall, although it does have its lighter moments, and it has an uplifting ending. For anyone interested in child psychology, I highly recommend this book.
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  Karen Hoy

  Torey Hayden has the incredible ability to change lives in person and through her books. This one should be required reading for anyone who works with children or criminals. Perhaps it would lead to changes in our current judicial system, which considers children like Kevin and Carol to be little than chattel. I believe some of Kevin's problems stemmed from his feelings of guilt over Carol's murder and his inability to help her. After he visited his former house, he was able to let go and move on. Perhaps he felt his sister had forgiven him.
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  Lex Preistner

  Murphy's Boy was one of the most intense true life accounts of child abuse I have ever read. I felt saddened by this child's plight, to the point of tears, and slept like a log afterward (the book really drains you!) But I was also glad I read it: only through understanding and a genuine willingness to help kids in need, will anything ever change for the better. Like all of Torey's book, this one was detailed, emotionally moving, engaging anddespite the subject matter fun. I highly recommend it!
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  jwoman

  I was utterly disappointed in this book. Ms. Hayden's approach, if in fact she has one, was hopelessly devoid of any theoretical backing. She simply misses the boat on many crucial issues. Further, her character development is completely lacking, and we spend 1/2 of the time hearing about her relationship with her "little sister" rather than exploring Kevin's history. At the end of the book, I was almost as unknowledgeable about why Kevin hadn't talked for so many years as I was when I started the book. While I am not completely discrediting the work that Ms. Hayden does, I found her book very frustrating. There are much better books that explain child abuse and what the victim is experiencing than this one.